UNIT IV AKBAR

UNIT 1V (12 MARKS) AKBAR

Consolidation of Mughal Empire.Expansion of the empire : Administrative measures: land revenue and mansabdari system:

Towards Integration : Akbars Rajput & Religious policies and Din-i-Illahi.

Akbar (1542-1605), third Mughal emperor of India (1556-1605), generally considered the true founder of the Mughal Empire. The son of Emperor Humayun, he was born in Umarkot, Sind (now in Pakistan), and succeeded to the throne at the age of 13. He first ruled under a regent, Bairam Khan, who recaptured for the young emperor much of the territory usurped at the death of his father. In 1560, however, Akbar took the government into his own hands. Realizing that Hindu acceptance and cooperation were essential to the successful rule of any Indian empire worthy of that name, he won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus, by a shrewd blend of tolerance, generosity, and force; he himself married two Rajput princesses.

Having thus secured the Hindus, he further enlarged his realm by conquest until it extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal and from the Himalayas to the Godavari River. Akbar's supreme achievement, however, was the establishment of an efficient administrative system that held the empire together and stimulated trade and economic development. Almost as notable was his promulgation of a new religion, the Dini-Ilahi (Divine Faith), a blend of Islam, Brahmanism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Although this attempt failed, Akbar surrounded himself with learned men of all faiths and, although illiterate himself, made his court a center of arts and letters.

EXPANSION OF THE EMPIRE:

Akbar decided early in his reign that he should eliminate the threat of Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three, Sikandar Shah Suri, in the Punjab. He left Delhi under the regency of Tardi Baig Khan. Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached.

The Hindu king Hemu, however, commanding the Afghan forces, defeated the Mughal army and captured Delhi on 6 October 1556.  Akbar's army, led by Bairam Khan, met the larger forces of Hemu on 5 November 1556 at the Second Battle of Panipat, 80 km north of Delhi. The battle was going in Hemu's favour when an arrow pierced Hemu's eye, rendering him unconscious. The leaderless army soon capitulated and Hemu was captured and executed. With this, the whole of Punjab was annexed to the Mughal empire. Before returning to Agra, Akbar sent a detachment of his army to Jammu, which defeated the ruler Raja Kapur Chand and captured the kingdom.  Between 1558 and 1560, Akbar further expanded the empire by capturing and annexing the kingdoms of Gwalior, northern Rajputana and Jaunpur.   

Akbar went on to expand the Mughal empire by subjugating local chiefs and annexing neighbouring kingdoms. The first major conquest was of Malwa in 1561, an expedition that was led by Adham Khan and carried out with such savage cruelty that it resulted in a backlash from the kingdom enabling its ruler Baz Bahadur to recover the territory. Subsequently, Akbar sent another detachment which captured Malwa in 1562, and Baz Bahadur eventually surrendered to the Mughals and was made an administrator. Around the same time, the Mughal army also conquered the kingdom of the Gonds, after a fierce battle between the Asaf Khan, the Mughal governor of Allahabad, and Rani Durgavati, the queen of the Gonds.  Over the course of the decade following his conquest of Malwa, Akbar brought most of present-day Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bengal under his control. A major victory in this campaign was the siege of Chittor. The fortress at Chittor, ruled by Maharana Udai Singh Sisodiya (Son of Rana Sangram Singh), was of great strategic importance as it lay on the shortest route from Agra to Gujarat and was also considered a key to central Rajasthan. On the advice of his nobles, Udai Singh retired to the hills, leaving two warriors Jaimal and Fatah in charge of the fort. Uday Singh, while staying in Hills, fathered a son who later came to be known as Maharana Pratap. The Mughal army surrounded the fortress in October 1567 and it fell in February 1568 after a siege of six months. The fort was then stormed by the Mughal forces, and a fierce resistance was offered by members of the garrison stationed inside, as well as local peasants who came to their assistance. The women committed jauhar while over 30000 men were massacred by the Mughal army. It was for the first and last time that Akbar indulged in carnage of this magnitude.  

After Akbar's conquest of Chittor, two major Rajput clans remained opposed to him - the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas of Ranthambore. The latter, reputed to be the most powerful fortress in Rajasthan, was conquered by the Mughal army in 1569, making Akbar the master of almost the whole of Rajputana. As a result, most of the Rajput kings, including those of Bikaner, Bundelkhand and Jaisalmer submitted to Akbar. Only the clans of Mewar continued to resist Mughal conquest and Akbar had to fight with them from time to time for the greater part of his reign. Among the most prominent of them was Maharana Pratap who declined to accept Akbar's suzerainty. 

Having conquered Rajputana, Akbar turned to Gujarat, whose government was in a state of disarray after the death of its previous ruler, Bahadur Shah. The province was a tempting target as it was a center of world trade, it possessed fertile soil and had highly developed crafts. Akbar marched to Ahmedabad, which capitulated without offering resistance. He took Surat by siege. The conquest of Gujarat(1572) marked a significant event of Akbar's reign as it gave the Mughal empire free access to the sea and control over the rich commerce that passed through its ports. The territory and income of the empire were vastly increased.The Mughal army also conquered Bihar & Bengal (1574), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586), and Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbar installed a governor over each of the conquered provinces.

LAND REVENUE

Akbar set about reforming the administration of his empire's land revenue by adopting a system that had been used by Sher Shah Suri. A cultivated area was measured and taxed through fixed rates based on the area's crop and productivity. Because taxation rates were fixed on the basis of prices prevailing in the imperial court, however—which were often higher than those in the countryside -- this placed hardship on the peasantry. Akbar changed to a decentralised system of annual assessment, but this resulted in corruption among local officials and was abandoned in 1580, to be replaced by a system called the dahsala. Under the new system, revenue was calculated as one-third of the average produce of the previous ten years, to be paid to the state in cash. This system was later refined, taking into account local prices, and grouping areas with similar productivity into assessment circles. Remission was given to peasants when the harvest failed during times of flood or drought. Akbar's dahsala system is credited to Raja Todar Mal, who also served as a revenue officer under Sher Shah Suri. Other local methods of assessment continued in some areas. Land which was fallow or uncultivated was charged at concessional rates.Akbar also actively encouraged the improvement and extension of agriculture. Zamindars of every area were required to provide loans and agricultural implements in times of need, to encourage farmers to plow as much land as possible and to sow seeds of superior quality. In turn, the Zamindars were given a hereditary right to collect a share of the produce. Peasants had a hereditary right to cultivate the land as long as they paid the land revenue.

MANSABDARI SYSTEM:

Akbar organized his army as well as the nobility by means of a system called the mansabdari. Under this system, each officer in the army was assigned a rank (a mansab), and assigned a number of cavalry that he had to supply to the imperial army. The mansabdars were divided into 33 classes. The top three commanding ranks, ranging from 7000 to 10000 troops, were normally reserved for princes. Other ranks between 10 and 5000 were assigned to other members of the nobility.

The empire's permanent standing army was quite small and the imperial forces mostly consisted of contingents maintained by the mansabdars. Each mansabdar was required to maintain a certain number of cavalrymen and twice that number of horses. The number of horses was greater because they had to be rested and rapidly replaced in times of war. Akbar employed strict measures to ensure that the quality of the armed forces was maintained at a high level; horses were regularly inspected and only Arabian horses were normally employed.

AKBARS RAJPUT POLICIES:

Akbars policy towards Rajputs shows his political wisdom. He tamed the Rajputs who were a constant headache for all Muslim rulers. He extended hand of friendship towards Rajputs. He established matrimonial alliances with them. Akbar appointed Rajputs to high posts in the Kingdom. He never insulted Rajputs. He never broke their idols. Akbar adopted a liberal war policy towards Rajputs.     

Akbar persuaded the Kacchwaha Rajput, Raja Bharmal, of Amber (modern day Jaipur) into accepting a matrimonial alliance for his daughter Jodhaa Bai(but there is no evidences of Jodhaa Bai.She was Harka Bai who always misiterpreted as Jodhaa Bai). This was the first instance of royal matrimony between Hindu and Muslim dynasties in India. Jodhaa Bai was renamed Mariam-uz-Zamani.   

Two major Rajput clans remained against him, the Sisodiyas of Mewar and Hadas (Chauhans) of Ranthambore. In another turning point of Akbar's reign, Raja Man Singh I of Amber went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader, Surjan Hada, to effect an alliance. Surjan grudgingly accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not marry any of his daughters.  

Entering into alliance with Rajput kingdoms enabled Akbar to extend the border of his Empire to far off regions, and the Rajputs became the strongest allies of the Mughals. Rajput soldiers fought for the Mughal empire for the next 130 years till its collapse following the death of Aurangzeb. To foster their compliance, Akbar kept the eldest sons of his Rajput allies as hostages.

RELIGIOUS POLICIES: Akbar was brought up in an atmosphere free from religious prejudice.  Akbar wanted to establish a national empire. So he gave up the policy of religious fanaticism & followed the policy of religious tolerance. He gave equal freedom to all in the matters of religion. Hindus were free to worship in their own way. The Hindus were allowed to build temples. Akbar stopped the forcible conversions of the Hindus in 1562AD. In 1563 he withdrew the pilgrimage tax imposed on Hindus. Akbar exempted Hindus from Jazia , a religious tax in 1564 AD.         

DIN-I-ILAHI

Din-i-Ilahi was a new religion introduced by Akbar in 1582. It was the combination of all the good points of other religions. Akbar did not force anyone to adopt this religion, therefore this religion did not flourish.   Akbar was deeply interested in religious and philosophical matters. An orthodox Muslim at the outset, he later came to be influenced by Sufi mysticism that was being preached in the country at that time, and moved away from orthodoxy, appointing to his court several talented people with liberal ideas, including Abul Fazl, Faizi and Birbal. In 1575, he built a hall called the Ibadat Khana ("House of Worship") at Fatehpur Sikri, to which he invited theologians, mystics and selected courtiers renowned for their intellectual achievements and discussed matters of spirituality with them.These discussions,were initially restricted to Muslims. Akbar opened the Ibadat Khana to people of all religions as well as atheists, resulting in the scope of the discussions broadening and extending even into areas such as the validity of the Quran and the nature of God.   

Principles of Din-i-Ilahi:  When two members met,one member of Din-i-Ilahi had to say Allah-Hu-Akbar & other had to reply Jalle-Jallal-Ho.They had to organise a feast once during a lifetime. Birthday was to be celebrated with great pomp. They had to abstain from meat as far as possible. Their funeral rites were performed according to their desires. They could not marry minor girls.They worshipped the sun. The followers believed in one God.